The 6 eCommerce Metrics Every Founder Should Know

When I start working with an eCommerce brand, one of the first questions I ask is:

“What are your key numbers?”

More often than not, the answer is either unclear or focused on the wrong things.

Many founders know their total revenue, but struggle to explain why that revenue happened.

Understanding the numbers behind your performance is what allows you to move from reacting week to week to making confident commercial decisions.

Below are the six metrics I believe every eCommerce founder should know and review regularly.

1. Website Visits

Website visits (or sessions) tell you how many people are coming to your store.

This number is influenced by the channels driving traffic to your website, such as:

• Paid social

• Google search

• Email marketing

• Organic social

• SEO

More traffic can create more opportunities for sales, but traffic alone doesn’t guarantee growth.

If visitors arrive on your website but don’t convert, the problem usually sits somewhere within the customer experience.

That’s why traffic should always be considered alongside conversion rate.

2. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate shows the percentage of visitors who complete a purchase.

For example:

If 1,000 people visit your website and 20 purchase, your conversion rate is 2%.

Small improvements in conversion can have a significant impact on revenue.

If the same website increased its conversion rate from 1% to 2%, sales would effectively double without any additional traffic.

Conversion rate is often influenced by factors such as:

• Product page clarity

• Customer trust signals

• Website speed

• Product photography and descriptions

• Ease of checkout

Many brands focus heavily on marketing when, in reality, improving conversion is often where the quickest wins can be found.

3. Average Order Value (AOV)

Average Order Value measures how much customers spend per order.

You can calculate this by dividing total revenue by the number of orders.

Increasing AOV allows your business to grow revenue without needing more customers.

There are several ways to improve this metric, including:

• Product bundles

• Cross-selling related products

• Free shipping thresholds

• Volume discounts

For example, if your AOV increases from £45 to £55, revenue grows without increasing traffic or conversion.

This is why AOV is one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — drivers of growth.

4. Revenue

Revenue is the number most founders track closely, but it should be viewed as the result of several other metrics working together.

A simple way to think about it is:

Revenue = Traffic × Conversion Rate × Average Order Value

When revenue changes, one of these factors has usually shifted.

Understanding which lever is driving the change helps you identify where to focus your attention.

5. Email Revenue Contribution

Email is one of the most valuable channels for eCommerce brands.

Unlike paid advertising, email allows you to communicate directly with customers who have already shown interest in your business.

For many brands, email contributes between 20% and 40% of total revenue.

This revenue typically comes from:

• Campaign emails

• Welcome flows

• Abandoned cart reminders

• Post-purchase emails

Tracking the percentage of revenue generated through email helps you understand whether you are fully leveraging your existing audience.

6. Site Speed

Website performance directly impacts conversion.

If a website takes too long to load, customers are far more likely to leave before completing a purchase.

Ideally, your website should load in under three seconds.

If pages take longer than this, it may be worth reviewing areas such as:

• Image sizes

• App usage

• Theme performance

Improving site speed often leads to better customer experience and stronger conversion rates.

Bringing It All Together

These six metrics provide a clear picture of how your eCommerce business is performing.

Rather than focusing solely on revenue, they help you understand what is driving it and where opportunities exist to improve performance.

By regularly reviewing these numbers, you can begin to make more structured decisions about marketing, product strategy and website improvements.

If you’re not currently tracking these metrics, it’s a good place to start.

And if you’d like a simple framework to review your performance and start planning your next phase of growth, you can sign up to get early access to my Mini eCommerce Trading Planner, which walks through these metrics and helps you build a clearer plan for the months ahead.